Tiger Woods provoked a furious reaction from Steve Williams on Wednesday night
after sacking his caddie despite more than 12 years of loyal service.

The New Zealander claimed to be “shocked and disappointed” at the decision, having remained resolutely tight-lipped throughout the sex scandal that engulfed Woods late in 2009.

Williams, who had worked with Woods since March 1999, was personally informed by his employer earlier this month, following the AT&T National in Pennsylvania. Together, the pair savoured 13 of Woods’s major championship victories.

In an impassioned parting shot on Wednesday night, Williams indicated that his loyalty had been betrayed. “I am no longer caddying for Tiger after he informed me he needed to make a change,” the 47 year-old said. “After 13 years of loyal service, needless to say this came as a shock. Given the circumstances of the past 18 months working through Tiger’s coach, a new coach and with it a major swing change, I am very disappointed to end our very successful partnership at this time.” During Woods’s absence from the game, which began when he aggravated knee ligament damage at the Masters, Williams caddied three times for Australia’s Adam Scott. After confirmation of the split, that partnership is to be permanent.

Woods, who did not name an immediate replacement for Williams, said: “I want to express my deepest gratitude to Stevie for all his help, but I think it’s time for a change. Stevie is an outstanding caddie and has been instrumental in many of my accomplishments. I wish him great success for the future.” Woods has reached a moment of crisis in his career. He has not contested a tournament since pulling out of the Players Championship in May, when he played the first nine holes in 42, and has fallen to No 20 in the world rankings having once held the top spot for a record 281 weeks.

Without a win to his name since Nov 2009, Woods’s dispensing of Williams represents a conscious break with the past.

Hank Haney, Woods’s former coach, said: “I am shocked. Stevie is the best caddie I have ever seen and has been a big part of a lot of his success.” Having fired Haney last year and now Williams, Woods can count only long-time manager Mark Steinberg as the one remaining member of the inner circle who protected him from the fallout over his philandering. Steinberg recently left International Management Group, taking his client of more than a decade’s standing with him.

Williams is believed to have earned more than £3 million through his estimated five per cent share of Woods’s earnings on the course. Far more than a caddie, he had become a valued friend, as both he and Woods were engaged after the 2003 Presidents Cup in South Africa, later attending each other’s weddings.

But the mutual understanding began to fray after Woods’s infamous car crash on Thanksgiving night in 2009, triggering a flurry of revelations of extramarital affairs. Williams’s wife had been close to Woods’s former wife, Elin Nordegren.

This year Williams had also begun to feel cut out of Woods’s recovery work and swing changes under Canadian coach Sean Foley. Woods did not even bother telling him that he did not intend to compete in the US Open until after he had made the trip to Washington from New Zealand.

Even his supporters would concede that Williams could be an acquired taste on the bag, known for his bullying tactics. He once tossed a camera into a pond during a skins game, when the photographer took a picture during the middle of Woods’s swing on the last hole, and on another occasion seized one from a fan at the 2004 US Open. He also created unwanted publicity for Woods late in 2008 through disparaging remarks about Phil Mickelson at a charity dinner.

It is unlikely his successor will be named soon, given Woods’s prolonged exile from competition. Woods, it had been rumoured, was considering playing in the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia, starting tomorrow. But as he confirmed last night that he was continuing to rest and rehabilitate his left leg, his involvement in next month’s US PGA is now in serious question.